


Devotion

by Inkyrius



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-04 13:50:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10992225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkyrius/pseuds/Inkyrius
Summary: The mission to defeat Veronica and rescue Lord Xander does not go as well as either Laslow or Leo would hope.





	Devotion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taichara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/gifts).



Laslow hadn’t spoken to anyone from Nohr since he’d joined the Order of Heroes. He hadn’t made a conscious decision to avoid them. He’d just missed his mother and the other Shepherds, and wanted to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity to spend time with them while he could. And he didn’t want the Nohrians asking awkward questions about his chumminess with people he shouldn’t know, and the next thing he knew he was ducking behind a pillar because Lady Elise was looking in his general direction.

He knew that Lord Xander would scold him for being ridiculous as soon as his lord arrived, but that would be nothing new. Until then, he was free to behave as foolishly as he liked, an opportunity he intended to take full advantage of.

His joy in doing so didn’t last as long as he hoped. He loved his parents, but he didn’t know most of the older Shepherds very well, and the only ones of his generation that had shown up so far were Lucina and the others that had traveled to Nohr with him. They could only spend so much time together without thinking about how many of their friends were still missing.

He was almost relieved when Kiran announced that Veronica was attacking Askr directly. If Veronica was coming, Lord Xander was almost certainly with her. Laslow hadn’t been around for Veronica’s first attack on Nohr, so he didn’t know why Lord Xander was still under her control after everyone else had been freed. It hardly mattered, though. This was his chance to free him from her grasp.

The Order mobilized remarkably quickly for a company of its size. They made it to the ruins with little trouble, other than their encounter with the man who looked like Gerome. Laslow still wasn’t sure what his deal was, but at least his disappearance provided a break in the fighting. Kiran took that time to assemble a smaller team to try to take Veronica and her personal guard down as quickly and cleanly as possible.

Thankfully, Laslow managed to secure a place on that team. Lord Leo was also chosen, which was a little awkward, but Laslow couldn’t exactly begrudge him the desire to rescue his brother. It wasn’t as if they’d been best friends before they’d been whisked to Askr anyway. Lord Leo probably hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Laslow’s behavior.

These thoughts kept him occupied until the battle started, at which point he didn’t have time to worry about anything but not dying. He knew better than to engage Lord Xander directly. Laslow charged a troubadour instead, only to get hit by a blast from her staff. His body became too heavy to move. He wanted nothing more than to lie down where he was standing.

He pressed forward. It only took two slashes for the troubadour to fall. As she died, the weight lessened. He took a breath and shook out his limbs, checking for lingering slowness. Once he was satisfied, he rounded on a swordsman.

His veins filled with icy poison. He cried out, which alerted the swordsman to his presence. _Stupid,_ Laslow thought. He lifted his own sword to parry, but his fingers were still numb. His grip was too weak to stand up to a blow. He closed his eyes and braced for the impact.

There was a scream. His eyes flew open in time to see trees sink back into the ground below the swordsman’s mangled frame. Laslow smiled shakily at Lord Leo, who nodded back. Laslow scanned the battlefield for his next target. As far as he could tell, though, they’d all but won. Veronica was surrounded and currently yelling something about fairness.

Lord Xander was sitting on the ground, breathing hard. Laslow drew on the last reserves of his strength to rush to his lord’s side. “Are you all right?”

Lord Xander smiled tiredly. “I’m fine.”

Lord Leo rode up and all but flung himself off his horse. “Brother!” He pulled Lord Xander to his feet.

“It’s good to see you again,” Lord Xander said. “I wish it could be under better circumstances. As it is, I’m afraid I don’t have time to talk.”

“Milord?” Laslow asked.

Lord Xander sighed. “I’ve sworn to stay by Veronica’s side, and I refuse to be the one to inflict still more loneliness on her. She reminds me too much of Corrin.”

“Xander – “ Lord Leo was cut off by a wave of Lord Xander’s hand.

“I know this won’t change the past, but I can’t make someone else suffer as our sister suffered.”

Lord Leo bit his lip. It was clear that he had more to say, but he couldn’t formulate a comeback in time to stop Lord Xander from getting back on his horse. “I’m sure we’ll meet again soon enough,” Lord Xander said. “May it be under happier circumstances than these.”

Laslow could only stare as Lord Xander rode away, apparently indifferent to the fact that he was abandoning one sibling for the memory of another.

Lord Leo made a choked sound beside him, and Laslow automatically put on his best roguish grin. “After all the times he’s scolded me for chasing after women, there he goes. Maybe he’s finally learning to lighten up.” He tried to keep his tone light-hearted, to ignore Lord Leo’s stricken expression.

At his words, though, Lord Leo managed to change it into a glare. “Is that all you ever think about?” he spat. “You just mounted an attack on your own lord, who then betrayed and abandoned you to ride off who knows where in the service of some witch, and you’re just smiling and cracking jokes?”

Laslow felt his smile falter, but he refused to let it drop altogether. He was well aware of his situation, thank you. He was also aware that the instant he stopped smiling he was almost certainly going to start crying. Doing so in front of Lord Leo would just be embarrassing for everyone.

“I’m sorry?” he offered. He managed to keep his voice from cracking, which he was rather proud of.

Lord Leo took a deep breath. “No, no. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s not like I didn’t know what sort of person you were.”

Laslow couldn’t help but be impressed. Lord Leo had managed to come up with an apology that hurt even more than the initial insult. Selena wished she could be that harsh.

He let himself wallow for a moment before shutting himself down. It wasn’t like getting mad at Lord Leo would help anything. Even if he was the “sort of person” to pick a fight with someone who was clearly distraught, it would be stupid to needlessly antagonize his lord’s brother.

“It’s fine,” Laslow said, though keeping up his smile was almost as painful as his injuries. “Let’s just regroup with the Order. Kiran can figure out where to go from here.”

Lord Leo stared into the distance. “Yeah.” He shook his head. Then he got back onto his horse and began riding back.

Laslow swallowed. _Maybe I should get a horse_ , his brain supplied inanely. He certainly wouldn’t mind being able to ride away from his troubles.

As it was, he was looking at a long and lonely walk back.


End file.
